READ: PSALMS 1:1-6; 3:3; ISAIAH 61:10; LUKE 15:11-32

I was probably in high school when I started continuously reading the psalms. Whenever I get to Psalm 150, I start over again. But I usually don’t look forward to Psalm 1. Maybe it’s because, when I read these verses, I’m confronted with the reality that I don’t measure up.

But when I read Psalm 1 a few days ago, I noticed I felt shame, and then I did something different. The Holy Spirit graciously prompted me to repent. To honestly tell God, I don’t measure up to this, and I’m sorry. I want to be like this— to not mock people, even if it’s just in my heart, even if it’s just because of my own insecurities. Instead, I want to meditate on Your Word day and night, and I’m sorry that I haven’t been. Do you know how I felt in that moment? Calm. It felt good. I like repentance. As it turns out, repentance is kind of the opposite of shame.

And it gets better. Verse 5 says, “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” On first read, that doesn’t sound like good news. But all the sudden, I realized something: this means the righteous will stand in the judgment. And that includes me. Not just when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, but right here and now.

To be clear, I sin every single day, just like everyone else. But the good news is, Jesus has made me righteous. He saw all my sin, and He loved me. So much that He was determined to bring me near and make me innocent. He went to the cross, took all my sin upon Himself, suffered the agony I deserved, and just before He breathed His last, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

On the cross, my sin was forgiven. Thinking about all this, I was reminded of Luke 15, when Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son. After ruining his life and wasting everything his father had given him, the son returned home, head heavy with shame. But his father was watching and waiting for him to return, and when he saw him, he ran to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him! And then the father called for a ring to be placed on his son’s finger and the best robe to be put on him. The father honored his son—not because he deserved it, not in the least! But because he loved him and rejoiced that he was home (Titus 3:5).

That’s what God does for us. Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, by faith, we are clothed in the robes of His righteousness. So we are free to confess our sins, to lay down our burdens and shame, knowing that we are already forgiven and deeply, truly loved. • Hannah Howe

• God invites us into the freedom of repentance. Consider taking some time to confess any sin that comes to mind.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. Psalm 34:5 (NIV)